webCRMs reports can be used for many purposes. However, for specific needs, a workaround may be required, involving cross-referencing of data fields in the report. This means that multiple reports need to be created, which can then be consolidated into one.

This solution is useful if:

You need to gather data from various modules such as quotes, meetings, etc.
There are multiple conditions across multiple units, e.g., different purchases on orders within a given period.

Case - Deletion Procedure for Inactive Contacts

Do you have specific guidelines for determining when a contact is considered inactive and should be deleted from webCRM?

In this case, the requirement for inactivity is defined as no activities or orders have been created on the person within the last year.

With this approach, it's not possible to include all criteria in a single report. It's also not practical to create two separate reports, as the presence of one criterion does not exclude the other. In other words, a person may have had an order placed within the last year but has not been linked as the contact on an activity.

To ensure that persons meeting only one criterion are not deleted, the person needs to be 'tagged' with both criteria, allowing filtering by these tags in a consolidated report.

This is how you do

The fields must be created in the module you wish to delete - in this case, persons. If the field is not created correctly, we cannot filter correctly to find the relevant person.

In this case, you need to create two hidden fields to tag the activities on a person, allowing you to view and filter based on the two criteria: orders placed and meetings held in the past year.

Step 1: Create hidden fields for "tags"

1. Go to configuration → custom fields → person

2. Create the fields with the checkbox type and set them to hidden mode

💡Tip! Create your hidden fields under '+Fields'. This way, they are hidden away, and you still have all the regular fields available.

Step 2: Create reports for bulk tagging

To bulk tag persons, you need to create reports on the data types that will determine the deletion - in this case, activities and orders.

The following steps outline the creation of the report for activities. The same procedure is repeated for orders.

Activities and orders

1. Go to utilities → reports → create

2. Select activities as the data type

3. Create the report with the desired date range

4. Go to general tab and enable permit advanced action. This allows for bulk modification of data

5. Go to report → actions → modify

6. Find your tag person: activity and check the checkbox → modify

Step 3: Create a report for bulk deletion

We now need to gather the persons who meet the criteria for inactivity. To do this, create 1 report.

Bulk deletion

1. Go to utilities → reports → create

2. Select person as the data type

3. Find your 2 tags and ensure the checkbox field is empty

💡Tip! You can expand your report with all relevant criteria. In the screenshot above, I used the created filter to ensure that all newly created individuals (within our chosen time frame of inactivity) are not deleted.

1. Go to general tab and enable permit advanced action. This allows for bulk deletion of data

2. Go to report and add your tags to the column view so you can verify that the report is correctly set up

3. Click on actions → delete result

4. Delete

Note! If you delete an organisation, you delete all related data - i.e., all persons, orders, activities, etc.

Step 4. Reset and tag with verification date

Once you have completed the process, your tags need to be reset for the next bulk deletion.

1. Go to utilities → reports → create

2. Select persons as the data type

3. Set the criteria to find all with a tag on the fields that were created

4. Go to general tab and enable permit advanced actions. This allows for modification

5. Go to → report → actions → modify

6. Find the tag person: activity and leave the checkbox empty → modify

7. Repeat the procedure with the tag person: order

Other examples

Create a campaign on all organisations with orders last year containing specific products

1. Create a tag (custom field) on the organisation for each specific product

2. Create a report for each tag on quotation lines with pipeline level = won, where the product is searched based on product name or product number and the pipeline date determines the time period

3. Each tag (checkbox) on the organisation is modified to be filled/checked

4. A report is created on the organisation as data type, which should contain product 1 or product 2 or product 3

5. Now, activities can be created in bulk for the organisations that have purchased one of the three products

This example could also be done for sending newsletters to relevant persons.

Have you tried other possible solutions?

1. Special Filter

In some cases, special filters can handle the task if it involves finding data without anything being created.

2. Date of last (unit) or quantity

A recent addition to reports is the date of the last activity, pipeline, order, etc., or number of meetings in a period. This information can be used to identify units in a specific time period or to search for those where nothing has been created yet.